Company Plug-In Parking Maxed Out

They are putting a charging station (it will have 2 -240 cables) in at work in the next week or so, and there are 3 of us PIPs, but we play nice....

 

Although I am all in favor of opportunistic charging, there will never be enough infrastructure for people to be able to charge reliably other than at home...assuming you have a home where you can plug in. Even if Plug-ins go up one percent, there will be mass hysteria at "public" outlets for the foreseeable future.

 

Nice. I wonder how much it would cost to just put outlets all along the wall and not dedicate the spots only to EVs? Does each outlet need to be breakered, or can a new much larger circuit be put in will high amp load. I like the fact that there are four different models of plug ins in 4 spots.

 

I would think you can put in a 40 to 60 amp circuit with just 15 amp outlets. The only issue I see is the wire gauge being to thick to safely connect to the outlets. Likely against code here, an English circuit could solve that. It uses a smaller gauge, but the circuit doesn't dead end at the farthest outlet. Instead it's a circle with another cable going back to the panel. Same amount of copper for the current. It's just in two cables instead of one.

 

Neat pic. Also absolutely shameful that the electrician never considered the max amps running through that circuit and thus they can blow the breaker. That's really inexcusable incompetence.

 

Why not at all, it's called the Lo Bid Estimate got the job!

 

Just my guess, but the person that speced the work probably just said we need 4 outlets, instead of saying we need 4 outlets to charge EVs that may take 20 amps each. The electrician should have asked though.

 

IIRC the wire should cover the full current of the breaker. I don't know if the individual outlets are allowed to handle 80amps though.

 

if they al would be with.. that would make this pic even better

 

Oh, I know it's not code here, but when was the last time you looked behind the drywall.

 

The Plug-in Parking where I work is reserved for the Security Golf Cart.

 

I like the photo in the original post.

Hmmm, we have the infrastructure installed i.e.one 15A outlet per parking space, each individually breakered (for engine heaters) but no plug-in or electric vehicles for sale.

Too bad...

 

It is one of the limitations of EV's. They have to be able to round trip. Range and refuel are their limiting factors.

 

My point was not that EVs consume a log of juice, but that very soon, there will be a lot more plug-ins than there are public charging outlets. Folks wont be able to depend on getting an electrified spot. Home charging will be the only reliable method. Even so, my next car will be an EV.

 

"Never" is a long time.

So your prediction is that charger installs will not keep up with sales of EVs?

I think the opposite is the case: There needs to be a critical mass of EVs before charger installs really take off. Once that mass is reached, the market will kick in.

I don't expect there to be enough chargers to depend on public charging in my region any time soon. But in a decade I expect things to be different.

Back in the days before fuel-injection, there were public parking lots in North Dakota with a 110-v. outlet at every spot, because cars parked long enough to get cold in winter would not start without plugging in their block heater. I foresee a day (maybe 10 years from now, maybe 20) when there's a plug at every parking spot, or at least lots of places where every spot has a plug. But it might not be an EVSE. It might just be an outlet, and the car has the EVSE, or the driver carries a portable EVSE.

 

I don't believe stores, companies, etc. are going to put in sufficient chargers for people to use for free. I know never is a long time, but let's say Sears puts in a dozen chargers or two dozen...there will always be a shortage and congestion around them, if they are free.

Daytime opportunistic charging would also put stress on the electric grid in places like NYC or Brooklyn, and go contrary to the concept of using electricity at night when utilities basically throw it away.

PHEVs and EVs are here. I just feel that for a very long time, the only way to charge them reliably and will be at home.

 

so with capitalism the criminal kills the citicen and gets al the money and with socialism the poeple get al the money but get killed by the criminal?
sound like the bank crisis where in today ;-)